The legal requirements for a spirit to be called “Tennessee Whiskey” are for all intents and purposes identical to the legal requirements to be called Bourbon with two additional: it must be made and aged in the state of Tennessee and it must undergo the “Lincoln County Process” of filtration.

This filtration process involves running the finished spirit through charcoal made from sweet maple wood. All Tennessee Whiskies are Bourbons, but not vice-versa. Jack Daniels is the biggest selling Whiskey brand in the world. It jumped to super-stardom in the 1950s, when Frank Sinatra proclaimed it “Nectar of the Gods, baby!”

Some of the interesting production differences for Jack Daniels include; very dark “alligator” char barrels, 4-to 6-day drip filtration through ten feet of those hard sweet maple charcoal chips, and an important three-step cooking process for the different grains in the mash bill.

The result is a relatively sweet and smooth dram with dark caramel notes and a warm, agate color.